The main purpose of the research
Mary Ainsworth aimed at exploring the development of feelings associated with love in infants toward their caregivers. This information was then purposefully used to understand the effect of the first emotional relationship on the following loving connections. Ainsworth explored the similarities between the first bond and the ones that a child would form later in one’s life. Overall, the primary purpose of this study was to understand the concept of attachments and loving relationships at different ages through the prism of the first emotional bond in infancy.
The point of view
The video includes many excerpts from other research on a similar topic that concerns not only humans but animals as well. All of them share the same findings: Infants prefer emotional connection (feelings of security and comfort) over physical care and necessities. What is more, the first part of the piece revolves around the personal experience of Ainsworth traveling with her husband around the globe and exploring the matter (JLC CHAIRS, 2020). She investigated the connections between the bond of caregiver and infant and the intimate relationships that occur further in Uganda, learning many helpful things for future research. As a result, the primary investigation happened in Baltimore, where Ainsworth analyzed the relationships between 26 middle-class infant and their caregivers (JLC CHAIRS, 2020). The extensive description of the encounters shows the effect that emotional connection plays in a baby’s behavior, leading viewers to believe how important it is. In fact, the persuasive narrative about the bond between a caregiver and an infant from the start of the video inclines the listeners toward Ainsworth’s initial hypothesis being true.
The arguments (main points) the video makes: [Describe physical, social, and cognitive aspects of child development discovered.] After analyzing the results from the studies in Uganda and Baltimore, Ainsworth realized that the caregivers’ sensitivity when following the babies’ cues directly impacted the emotional bond in infancy. Thus, such a sensitive response resulted in infants viewing their parents or guardians as “a haven of safety” (JLC CHAIRS, 2020). Besides, the babies who established emotional relationships with their caregivers developed more cognitive skills at a younger age. The guardians also found it easier to communicate with the infants as they were more obedient and more responsive to requests. The experiments in the lab proved this point since the babies with an emotional attachment to their caregivers responded worse to strangers and were highly distressed. All in all, the infant patterns of emotional attachments were proven to remain for a considerable time and affect a child’s relationships.
Theories that relate to the case study
Nordahl et al. (2020) also explored the relationship between mother-infant bonding and the development of future emotional attachments. Their research concluded that the first loving bond that a baby forms affects one’s relationships with other people. Besides, the caregivers’ sensitivity in infancy played a pivotal role in the child’s development of social skills. Similarly, Ainsworth drew the same conclusions after investigating the influence of mother-infant bonding on attachment formation in Uganda and Baltimore studies (JLC CHAIRS, 2020). To elaborate, Ainsworth found the same association between caregivers’ sensitivity and the children’s social behaviors.
Change in research to obtain stronger results
All in all, it seems that unconsciously parents and caregivers want to be praised for their excellent parenting skills, meaning that interactions between infants and their guardians in Baltimore were not necessarily reliable. In fact, it would be reasonable not to waste resources and efforts on this part and focus on analyzing the relationships within the lab along with the experiment with the strangers. It would be more suitable to add more participants to the research to be able to produce more trustworthy findings in the end.
References
JLC CHAIRS. (2020). Mary Ainsworth: Attachment and the growth [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Nordahl, D., Rognmo, K., Bohne, A., Landsem, I. P., Moe, V., Wang, C. E. A., & Høifødt, R. S. (2020). Adult attachment style and maternal-infant bonding: the indirect path of parenting stress. BMC Psychology, 8(1).